Corporation for Public Broadcasting Grant

Challenges

I. Development and implementation of services detailed in workscope

1. Task One: Develop and implement GIS applets and create related World Wide Web services

   The map server is operational under Windows NT server operating system. The final release version of ArcView Internet Map Server (IMS), the software being used for on-line GIS map, was received.

   On-line GIS maps are available from our web server. Two maps have been created and served: Boundaries and Public Interest Sites and Demographics by Neighborhood.

   Progress is focussing on developing and serving more maps and making speed, reliability, and security improvements to the map server. A major effort will be made during the next six months to transform our initial applications into a more robust system that is able to respond to multiple queries.

   
   
2. Task Two: Train community residents and social service providers to take advantage of the online services related to the Project

   Training is a strong component of the St. Louis Community Information Network's services. We have identified a need in our constituency groups for basic Internet skills. In order for them to not only use the Internet and St. Louis CIN's web site, but to participate in the CIN through email and hosting their own web page, we decided to offer a series of classes ranging from Introduction to the Internet through basic web page design.

   Three has been a enthusiastic interest in our classes from all of our constituent groups. We continue to make modifications to both the content and style of the classes as the participants' feedback suggests. Details of our training schedule are provided in section VIII "Training of at Least 250 Individuals in the Community."

   
   
3. Task Three: To provide publicity and promote community awareness of the Project

   Outreach efforts continued, on a smaller scale compared to the first part of 1997. Attention focused on continuing to involve already interested and participating people.

   A Neighborhood User group meeting was held in late August, which brought together approximately 30 people to discuss web master and email monitor responsibilities, training opportunities, and activities or projects they'd be interested in pursuing.

   The City Employees' User group met twice during this time period. The Air Pollution, Refuse, and Board of Election Commissioners departments presented their progress on creating and/or maintaining their web site. A survey was done to discover what types of information would be of use to employees on a City Intranet (see Appendix). An email discussion group was created for City employees.

   
   
4. Task Four: To evaluate and assess the success of the Project, as related to its ability to affect local user penetration, and as related to its general effect within the community

   Currently we are having each participant fill out an evaluation form at the completion of each training class. This form (included in Appendix) asks for both evaluation of the course and the instructor. It also has open-ended questions for people to provide narrative feedback.

   We have met with Davis von Bakergem, our research consultant from Washington University. We have discussed and planned various approaches for evaluating the different components of the St. Louis Community Information Network.
   

   • On-line survey - Visitors to the St. Louis CIN could click on a link to fill out a survey that asks a few questions about things like where they heard of the site; have they been here before; and for what type of information are they searching. We are exploring various ways of making it attractive for visitors to take the time to fill out the survey.

   • Test of the Web Site - A test would be created that would evaluate the web site on how easy it is to find information and how quickly the information can be found. Two groups of people would be used: "expert" Web navigators and "novice" Web navigators.

   • Follow-up interviews - People who have taken our Introduction to the Internet class in which they learn about the St. Louis CIN web site would be called. These calls will assess how often and for what purpose people have used both the Internet and specifically the St. Louis CIN web site.

   • Evaluation forms for the training classes
   
   
   
   

II. Exploration of the relationship with local, regional and national educational computer networking, broadcasting and other telecommunications services

We have continued to work in cooperation with other organizations with similar goals of community involvement and Internet technology. Working in collaboration with other organizations has provided us with a larger pool of expertise and knowledge.

CIN 98 Conference - Sonya Pelli, CIN Administrator has been serving on the planning committee. She has met several times with representatives of other community networks to organize a March 1998 conference. The topic for this year's conference is "Civic Networking: The Next Generation."

University of Missouri Extension - We conducted a workshop on community networking at their Community Development Academy in November 1997.

Bi-State Development Agency/GA Sullivan Consulting - With the help of a GA Sullivan consultant, we have been exploring with Bi-State the possibilities for an enhanced public transportation web site.

Project Respond - They have collected and mapped community resources, as per their contract with us. The intent is to offer this information on our web site.

SafeFutures - The initiative provides intervention services for at-risk youth. St. Louis CIN has been assisting with telecommunication support and the design of an Internet-based management information system.

Children's Trust Fund Community-based Family Resource Program - This is one of five pilot sites in Missouri. It is a collaboration of organizations serving a select geography on the near southside of the City. St. Louis CIN is participating in their strategic planning process and assisting in the development of the managed information systems they will use for the project.

BJC/BHS Mental Health Board - They are responsible for implementing the ACCESS program, which is a systems integration effort to provide mental health services. St. Louis CIN is assisting this group with developing an Internet-based communication mechanism.

Ounce of Prevention - Information about St. Louis CIN and how it may be used in support of youth organizations and programs was presented at one of their Services Summits.

Police Department - They are entering into a contract with St. Louis CIN for the provision of Internet access, training, and web site support.

Water Division - They are entering into a contract with St. Louis CIN for the provision of faster Internet access.

Saint Louis University & Bicycle Works - A collaboration has developed between ourselves and these two groups to pursue public access and youth development and training opportunities for City residents.

Employment Partnership - A group composed of ten employment counseling organizations are collaborating with St. Louis CIN in order to share information to enhance their ability of placing people in jobs.

III. Status of services currently available

1. Internet Accounts
   Email and web site accounts are available to City employees, neighborhood groups, and not-for-profit organizations located in the City. Currently, there is no charge for these accounts; however, cost recovery is being discussed for future usage.

2. Public Access Sites
   Currently six public access sites are operational. Four additional sites have been identified and the agreements are in the process of being finalized by our public access site partner, Grace Hill Neighborhood Services. Two more sites still need to be established.
   
   

   Location	Neighborhood
   Caroline Mission	The Gate District
   12th & Park Recreation Center	LaSalle Park
   Youth & Family Center	St. Louis Place
   Eskridge High School	Wellston

   
   
3. Training & Outreach

   Training continues to be provided on a regular basis, in response to strong demand. Details about the past six months are provided in Section VIII "Training of at least 250 individuals in the community." Two areas are to be explored during the first half of 1998:

   a) offering web page workshops, where there would be a high number of volunteers to students and work and learning would be done using the student's web page, and

   b) putting some of the course materials on-line for independent study or review.

IV. Status of population demographics for local areas currently having access to services

As included in previous reports the demographic statistics for the City of St. Louis indicate a population with significant economic and social distress. Total population continues to decrease.

V. Status of the number of users, and the frequency and nature of utilization

1. Number of hits on the St. Louis CIN Home Page
   
   

   Month	August	September	October	November	December
   Hits	11,857	12,723	13,956	21,996	29,667

   
   

   A significant increase in hits occurred in November and has continued to grow. We are not exactly sure of the reason behind the dramatic increase and are trying to analyze the causes.
   
   

2. Connections

   1. City Departments:
      Between August and December of 1997, 67 City employees received email accounts and ten City departments received web site accounts.

   2. Not-for-Profit Organizations/Neighborhoods:
      During this same time period, 51 not-for-profit organizations and neighborhood groups received email accounts. An additional 16 web site accounts were created.
   
   

VI. Status of the host Internet server and communication system(s)

1. Web Server

   The web server continues to provide direct dial-up access. The server is located in Columbia, Missouri and is maintained by MOREnet, our Internet Service Provider.

2. Modem Pool

   In July of 1997 St. Louis CIN upgraded from a 15 analog line to a 48 digital line modem pool, of which 24 are currently active. There have been fewer complaints about dial up access.

3. GIS Map Server

   The map server computer has a 166 MHz processor with 144M of RAM and is running Windows NT server operating system. In keeping with our proposal, ArcView Internet Map Server (IMS) version 1.0 is the on-line GIS software.

   The map server is operational and capable of serving maps. We are continuing to look into improvements to increase interaction speed and stability. The first recommendation is to increase the graphics card to a top of the line 8M or more. The reason behind this is that ArcView IMS requires ArcView to create and draw the map on the map server and then serve the map image to whomever requested it. The improved graphics card will decrease the amount of time ArcView takes to initially draw the map. We are also looking into increased memory, dual processors, more hard drive space and a few other options.

   We are also improving the security of the server. This includes converting the file system from a FAT to NTFS configuration, setting up multiple users, and restricting access.

   The map server's URL is http://207.150.60.50. It can be linked to from CIN's web site from http://stlouis.missouri.org/gis.

VII. Updating of the GIS applets with refined version of the initial GIS applets

As mentioned earlier, the GIS map server is operational. The final version of ArcView Internet Map Server (IMS) has been received. We have been working with ESRI, producer's of ArcView IMS, on refining and improving the performance.

1. Existing Geographic Information

   As reported in the previous progress report, there are several clickable and static maps found on our web site.

2. Geographic Boundaries

   A map has been created and is served that includes the following layers: Neighborhoods, Zip codes, Census tracts, Census block groups, and the Enterprise Community.

   An on-line non-graphical database is also under development. This would allow a user to enter an address and a list of relevant geographical districts would be displayed.

3. Community Resources

   Currently limited community resources are available on a served map. These include public libraries and public schools. Project Respond, an organization under contract with us, has collected and mapped an extensive list of social service agencies and other community resources. These will be added to an on-line map during the next reporting period.

4. Property Information

   Map layers exist for property parcels and building outlines. We are exploring what type of Assessor's data should be made available over the Internet. Possibilities include: assessed value, zoning, property owner and address, and last purchase date.

5. Demographics

   Some of the most requested information about the City is demographic data. We currently have an on-line GIS map of neighborhood demographics. It includes five variables: total population, white/black race, number completed high school, number in poverty. A more extensive set is under consideration.

6. Aerial Photography

   We have files of aerial photographs for the entire City. The best way to post them to the Internet is under consideration.

7. Transportation

   For the past several months, we have met with Bi-State Development Agency, operators of the regional public transit system, and a consultant from GA Sullivan to explore creating a public transportation web site.

   We have discussed various options including:

   1. Static images of bus routes and scheduling information
   2. Bus routes as a layer for on-line maps (Someone looking at other information, e.g., where a day care is located, could identify nearby bus routes).
   3. Interactive page that will ask for two points and display possible transportation routes. (Someone directly interested in finding out bus information could get that information for this type of site).

   We are in the process of discussing implementation roles and responsibilities.

VIII. Training of at least 250 individuals in the community

In the months of August and September the training curriculum we now provide was developed. Several meetings with staff and volunteers were held to decide what content was important and the best format for the classes. It was agreed that providing hands-on learning opportunities is critically important when working with people who have little computer experience.

Finding computer facilities that have Internet connections has proven to be the biggest challenge in providing training. We currently use two facilities that are not ideal, but available.

USDA Training Center: The United States Department of Agriculture has a training center in downtown St. Louis. There is no fee to use this facility and they are very accommodating in loading new software onto the computers (Netscape Browser, WS_FTP, etc.). However, the facility can only be used during business hours and on a few occasions our reservation has been cancelled because higher priority clients needed the facility.

Southwestern Bell TeleCommunity Center (TCC): The TCC is located on the University of Missouri St. Louis campus, which is in St. Louis County. However, it is right next to a Metrolink station, St. Louis's light rail. The TCC has evening hours and allows us to occasionally (once a month) reserve their facility without a fee. We are not able to have software loaded on the computers and they are not currently set up for people to be able to check email.

Five classes were developed:

• Introduction to the Internet and CIN
• Introduction to Email
• Intermediate Internet
• Creating Web Pages/HTML I
• HTML II.

The classes were free and open to neighborhood groups, not-for-profit organizations and City employees. During the reporting period, a total of 21 classes were offered and 326 people attended (many people attend more than once class). In an effort to make it possible for anyone to attend the classes, they were offered both during the day and evening. (Course materials are included in Appendix)

As mentioned earlier, training classes continue to be offered on a regular basis. Twenty-five classes have been scheduled during the next six months.

IX. Establishment of the volunteer corps to staff a Help Desk

The Help Desk provided many people with technical assistance. A staff member is available to help organizations become connected. Many of the small not-for-profit organizations and neighborhood groups do not have the technical resources to get hardware connected and software installed correctly. St. Louis CIN provides both phone and in-person support to make the often intimidating first step in using the Internet.

The Help Desk also assists with routine information, such as requests for accounts, re-setting of forgotten passwords, class sign-up, and general CIN information. The Help Desk handled 30 requests in August, 98 in September, 154 in October, 59 in November, and 57 in December. The marked increase in October is due mostly to class sign-ups, as that is when our Fall schedule was released.

Two volunteers were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the St. Louis CIN during 1998. Violet Horvath was the Volunteer of the Year for her mentoring of a neighborhood group and role as an CIN instructor. Kristen Zapalac was responsible for the development and maintenance of several web pages on the CIN.

X. Development of the Speaker's Bureau

The Speaker's Bureau gives both formal and informal presentations about the St. Louis Community Information Network to neighborhood groups, not-for-profit organizations, City employees, and other interested groups. Our primary difficulty in creating an active Speaker's Bureau has been the lack of availability of a data projector. We have found that being able to demonstrate what the Web is and specifically what the St. Louis CIN looks like is an integral part of the Speaker's Bureau purpose. Without a live Internet connection and a data projector that can project the computer monitor onto a screen , it is hard for people who do not understand the Internet to have an idea of what we are discussing.

Currently we use an old projector that is both very heavy and has poor color and resolution. A new projector has been discussed, but due to cost, has been put off until the next budget year. Other examples of

• An on-line demonstration of the St. Louis CIN was given at each of the eight Introduction to Internet classes.

• An hour and a half workshop was given about community information networks, St. Louis CIN and the Web Fair to the University of Missouri Extension Community Development Academy, a week long seminar for community development professionals from the Midwest.

• An on-line demonstration of the CIN and GIS initiative was given to the St. Louis chapter of the American Statistical Association.

• A presentation was done for the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood and alderwoman.

XI. Development of the public relations program

Several steps have been taken to market the CIN. We recognize that this is one of our biggest challenges, especially as we are grappling with long-term sustainability issues.

• We have worked to increase the "findability" of our web site via search engines. For example, the Lycos search engine organization reviewed our site and determined that it should be one of a selected number that are linked from their St. Louis CityGuide page.

• A logo for CIN was finalized. An in-house call for suggestions, and voting, led to not only the selection of our logo, but also considerable in-house publicity. New stationary has been printed.

• A marketing consultant has been helping us explore support and sustainability options for the St. Louis CIN. He interviewed six corporations located in St. Louis about their knowledge and interest in supporting CIN. He found little interest in paying for advertising mostly due to that form of advertising being unproven in effectiveness; however, there appears to be potential interest in supporting specific subject area pages or neighborhood pages. This research will continue during the next reporting period.

• The marketing consultant also designed a comprehensive brochure of St. Louis CIN. (Copy of design draft included in Appendix).

• CIN held several sessions in December for Community Development Agency and St. Louis Development Corporation staff to learn about our past year's accomplishments and to discuss how their departments could better serve the public via the Internet.

• A report, Inside City Hall, was produced during the reporting period. We have begun studying how St. Louis CIN might best address many of the recommendations that were made for improving productivity and communication.

• The City Government newsletter, NewsGram, now lists CIN's web site.

• The Homeless Area Network newsletter did a short write-up about the St. Louis CIN. (Included in Appendix)

• City Life Neighbor to Neighbor Series, a television program on the City's cable channel that focuses on home renovation, has a web page on CIN. It promotes the URL on the show. (http://stlouis.missouri.org/housing/citylife)

• A holiday/end-of-the-year letter describing CIN's 1997 accomplishments was sent out to over 700 City leaders and citizens with whom we have worked during the past year. (Included in Appendix)